A 24-16 win ensured the Brisbane Broncos kept a 100% winning record over their newest neighbours the Dolphins in a pulsating clash at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Key takeaways:
- An early Selwyn Cobbo try - minutes after a Dolphins try claim was rubbed out by the Bunker - was the first ever NRL try at the Gabba after seven minutes.
- Brisbane went 10-0 up after 23 minutes with a Herbie Farnworth four-pointer.
- The Dolphins hit back through Kodi Nikorima a couple of minutes later to narrow the gap to 10-6, but Farnworth's second the next set for Brisbane shot the margin back out to eight points.
- Coming out of halftime with a 14-6 lead, Brisbane conceded first to only be ahead 14-10 at the fifty minute mark.
- With 17 minutes left, Jeremy Marshall-King burrowed over for the 'Phins, Isaako's conversion letting the new club in front for the only time of the match.
- Five minutes later Cobbo restored Brisbane's advantage with his second try; Reynolds converting for 20-16.
- A 78th-minute hat-trick try for Cobbo sealed Brisbane's win, final margin eight points.
After a fast start and a denied try by the Bunker, the Dolphins conceded the first try after seven minutes when Selwyn Cobbo claimed a four-pointer out wide.
A second try after the twenty minute mark to Herbie Farnworth, barging his way over, saw the home team go 10-0 clear but the Dolphins managed to wrest the momentum back not long after, with Kodi Nikorima fooling Brisbane's defenders and getting the away side started for the contest.
Farnworth was keen to see the tryline again and quickly restored Brisbane's advantage with his second, and with Reynolds failing to convert, the score going into the break would be 14-6 to the Broncos.
The Dolphins looked strongest after the break and they capitlised through a solid left side movement which put Valynce Te Whare over, narrowing the margin to four. A war of attrition developed thereafter and it wouldn't be til the 65th minute when another tryscorer was registered.
Jeremy Marshall-King's reach-out-put-down drew the Phins level before Isaako converted and the away team led by two for the first time, but it wasn't to last.
At the 70 minute mark the Broncos fired back against the momentum with a Selwyn Cobbo four-pointer which saw the hosts lead 20-16 after Reynolds converted.
Cobbo bagged his hat-trick late and secured Brisbane's second win from two against their new local rivals, a crowd of more than 30,000 packed in to watch the historic Gabba match on a pulsating Saturday night.